1. Field of the Invention
One or more embodiments of the invention described herein pertain to the manufacture and use of pomegranate compositions in an animal diet to achieve beneficial effects such as an increased rate of weight gain and/or decreased involuntary cull rate.
2. Description of the Related Art
Efficient digestion and/or rumination in production animals is important to maximize feed intake, feed efficiency, production of milk, meat or other animal product, and maintaining acceptable level of milk components. Having a healthy digestive and/or rumen environment reduces the risk and incidence of metabolic disorders that can occur with improper feeding management or abrupt feed intake changes.
The current practice in the production animal industry, which may include beef and dairy cattle, is to allow the animals to self-feed. Having a self-feeding nutrition management program means that all or part of an animal's complete diet is placed in feeder equipment so that the animal has free access to the food at all times of the day over the entire feeding period. Hence with a self-feeding program the animals self regulate their food intake quantity.
In a self-feeding program economic losses may result when the animals decrease their food intake, develop erratic feed consumption habits or decrease their feeding efficiencies. Such behaviors sometimes lead to decreased animal asset production (e.g., milk, beef, offspring), reduced animal health, and an increase in animal deaths. To manage such issues one current technique is to make use of the practice of culling to reduce herd size. If done effectively and with the correct timing, culling is an economic decision that can lead to improved animal asset production and herd profitability. There are many reasons for culling animals, and some of those reasons are loosely separated into “voluntary culling” and “involuntary culling.”
Voluntary culling traditionally includes those production animals that leave the herd due to, for example, low milk production in the absence of disease, or those sold into other producers' herd. Involuntary culling is loosely defined as “those production animal that leave the herd against the wishes of the producer.” Examples of non-voluntary culling include being physically impaired (e.g., injury, crippled), persistent health problems, non-breeding, disease or death.
The biological and market factors surrounding a culling decision are both complex and unpredictable. The dynamic nature of such factors includes uncertainty regarding future productivity and economic value of the herd. Involuntary culling is a major economic problem in the production animal industry. Every time a production animal is culled, the producer incurs a cash cost. The cash cost of the cull is simply the price of the replacement animal minus the salvage value of the culled animal.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) first approved the sub-therapeutic and therapeutic use of antibiotics for farm animals in 1951. The use of antibiotics improved animal health by treating disease and improving animal productivity. Such antibiotics were administered by adding doses to the production animal's feed or water supply. However, public concerns about the potential for antibiotic-resistant microbes to develop in production animals and transfer to humans have led to restrictions in the practice of administering antibiotics.
To prevent over usage of antibiotics in production animals various regulatory agencies have taken action. In one example of a regulatory response, the European Union recently mandated that antibiotics may not be used as growth promoters in feed animals. Over the years, antibiotics have been slowly restricted, culminating with the complete banning of antibiotics in the European Union as growth promoters commencing Jan. 1, 2006. There is both a political move and a public health concern with the use of antibiotics as feed additives.
The restriction or banning of antibiotic supplements in animal diets has a direct cost in terms of economics and animal health. The commercial cost of producing meat and milk from animals has increased and the health of the animals in high-density production facilities has decreased.
For at least the limitations described above there is a need for natural and economical methods for decreased culling rates, increased body scores, increased milk production, and the improvement of welfare in production animals.